Solar Eclipse: Lightyear separate 0

Lightyear pulls the plug on the brand’s first-ever solar car. The company that builds the car is on the brink of bankruptcy and has applied for a moratorium on payments. Anyone who ordered the car for 250,000 euros will have to wait and see whether they will get their money back.

At the end of November 2022, the Lightyear 0 went into production in a Finnish factory. The car has already been ordered 21,000 times by leasing and car-sharing companies. There were also 40,000 consumers on a list to express their interest in this car.

Lightyear 0 out of production

Now the production of the Lightyear 0 is stopped. “We are now putting all our energy into building the Lightyear 2 to make it available to customers in time,” CEO Lex Hoefsloot told De Telegraaf in a written statement.

The Lightyear 2 should be significantly cheaper than the 0. According to Lightyear, this model should go into production in 2024/2025 and have a price of 30,000 euros. Little is known about the model.

Confidence in Lightyear may have been shaken by the 0’s production halt. Whether consumers are still interested or not, Leaseplan has already reserved 5,000 2s.

A collectible

After the production of the Lightyear 0 was stopped, the solar car could well become a collector’s item. Autovisie drove the Lightyear 0 last year. The car tested is one of the few examples. Only one car rolled off the assembly line per week. How many cars were built exactly is still unclear. There will be no more than 8 copies.

The 0 failed to impress on all fronts. Dries van den Elzen shows how the Dutch solar car drives in the video below. He was able to take a short test drive around the plant in the 5,083 meter long electric vehicle.